Solo Skin-on-Frame Canoe Update 

Check out the video I just posted on rowing these boats

This is just what I like for my own personal boats, The first trip out is a little Squirrley but once I get into the flow with the stroke I can keep this going straight but still maintain the advantage of a very maneuverable boat. but the cool thing about this being a building system rather than a specific design is that if you want to track harder all you’ve got to do is drop the keel a bit during the build and problem solved.

I’m not gonna touch the prospector thing because that’s a really complicated subject. There’s the actual original prospectors and then there were boats that were loosely based on it and then there’s just a whole bunch of boats now that are called prospector that aren’t anything like a prospector. Also there’s only so much I can say about design because this isn’t a specific design but rather an entire building system so within certain parameters you actually get to choose the shape depth length and rocker of your boat. Every year I build about five more canoes and my students are adding probably 100 to that number every year and as I gather more information I’m continually expanding the parameters of what the system can and can’t do. If you check out the specific video that I made on skin on framed durability that will answer most of your questions there. In my experience most boats of equivalent weights are roughly as durable as each other. One exception though might be a wood canvas Canoe which is pretty heavy compared to a plastic canoe which is going to be a lot stronger. If I took one of my boats however and framed it heavier and put a super heavy skin on it to where it weighed as much as a plastic Canoe it would be about as tough as a plastic Canoe. And I feel like this relationship carries throughout the entire weight range. If you build this as light as a full carbon Canoe it’s going to be about as durable as a full carbon canoe although MUCH more impact resistant and slightly less abrasion and puncture resistant.

Me too just got the plan set and still trying to decide. Would love to know the Dimensions of this boat

You’d have to laminate a custom stem for it but it would work

Fibra. De. Vidro??!!! A. Tá 😉

alright, I see the airbags at 14 something. Hmmm.

I feel like canoe safety is more about judgment, which is a decent way to look at safety and probably just as safe as gearing up like a gladiator only to realize that all that stuff doesn't always work the way you think it will. Float bags are common on river trips and there are ways to rescue, although just like kayaks, group rescues are more reliable.